WEST BROKEN HILL
Affiliated: BRFA 1900-27; BHFL 1928-present
Formed: 1900
Colours: Black and red
Emblem: Robins (formerly Redlegs)
Premierships: 1900, 1901, 1903, 1916-17-18, 1921-2, 1927, 1929-30, 1932-3, 1939, 1949, 1954-5, 1962-3-4, 1966, 1978, 1980, 1990 (24 total)
League Best and Fairest Awards: J.Cain 1912; R.Barnes 1918; B.McGregor 1922; F.Lovett 1926; C.Corner 1927; C.Bates 1928; L.Williams 1934, 1941 & 1943; J.Pell 1945; G.Merrett 1948; G.Burkett 1949; R.Tozer 1952-3 & 1955; P.Jay 1954; N.Rickard 1956; V.Gauci 1963-4; G.Lakes 1967; G.Burt 1969-70; P.Williams 1972; K.Jay 1990; T.Rynne 1996; Tim Ferguson 2007 (20 winners/26 wins)
| MINI-BIOGRAPHIES: | Bobbie Barnes Garth Burkett Bruce McGregor Bert Renfrey |
When the Barrier Ranges Football Association adopted an electorate system in 1900 West Broken Hill was the very first premier, downing North Broken Hill 2.3 (15) to 1.6 (12) in the inaugural grand final. Since then, West has been consistently successful, twice (in 1927 and 1932) going through an entire season undefeated, and landing three consecutive flags on two occasions.
The Robins have occasionally skirted with controversy. In 1925 the premiership competition was abandoned after their grand final opponents, Central Broken Hill, refused to take the field for the second half of the grand final, claiming that the central umpire was not giving them a 'fair go'. The incident robbed Wests of a possible premiership, but in 1949 the team was the beneficiary of some good fortune when, thanks to a glaring umpiring error, it annexed a premiership it did not really deserve. In that year's grand final, with moments to go, the Redlegs, as Wests were known at the time, trailed Norths by a point, and were pressing forward desperately. Renowned Broken Hill journalist takes up the story:
When the ball reached the centre half forward flank, the Redleg player in possession chipped the ball across towards Alby House, who was slightly forward of the true centre half forward position. As the ball was in the air - and BEFORE it was marked by House - the bell rang.
There is absolutely no doubt that the bell was rung BEFORE House marked, for this writer had a perfect view of play from the grandstand. However, the important thing is not what this writer or anyone else knows; the important thing is that the umpire DID NOT HEAR the bell above the pandemonium from shouting patrons - West fans urging on their players; and North supporters (in the grandstand at least) screaming with joy at another North premiership.
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The rules of the game declare that the field umpire must indicate the end of a game, and as the umpire did not hear the bell until AFTER House had marked, his declaration of the end of the match at that point brought into play another rule - that a player is entitled to kick for goal after the bell so long as he has marked before the end of the game.......... Therefore, House was entitled to his kick for goal. House, cool under tremendous pressure, kicked truly - and West had taken the flag by 5 points. (See footnote 1) Needless to say, North fans were furious at what they saw as a flagrant injustice, and that night a number of them took the law into their own hands and broke into Jubilee Oval where the offending item - the bell - was smashed to smithereens. The BHFL promptly took measures to prevent a recurrence by installing an electronic siren, but in the meantime West Broken Hill had won an unlikely, undeserved, but highly welcome flag. Among the many fine players to don the black and red jumper over the years have been Bert Renfrey, who went on to captain South Australia to its 1911 carnival win, Bobbie Barnes (pictured left) and Bruce McGregor, both of whom later joined West Adelaide and won three Magarey Medals between them, triple best and fairest award winner Garth Burkett (also a star with West Adelaide, where he was known invariably as 'Gar'), dual Middleton Medallist Vince Gauci, and prolific former Central District goalsneak, Gary Jones, who was the dominant BHFL full forward of the late 1970s. |
Despite their auspicious overall record the Robins have currently gone longer than any other BHFL club without a premiership, with their last success coming in 1990. In 2007 they topped the ladder after the minor round, earning themselves an automatic berth in the grand final, only to be well beaten on the day by Norths.
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Footnotes
1. Taken from the souvenir centenary edition of the 'Barrier Daily Truth' newspaper, published in 1983. Return to Main Text